{"id":30765,"date":"2015-12-10T05:51:57","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T12:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/?p=30765"},"modified":"2015-12-10T05:51:57","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T12:51:57","slug":"gods-blessings-are-circled-with-thorns-dressed-with-tenderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/2015\/12\/gods-blessings-are-circled-with-thorns-dressed-with-tenderness\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Blessings are Circled with Thorns, Dressed with Tenderness."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo Source: Flickr Creative Commons by Cindi Albright https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rustiqueart\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

I wrote this post about family and thankfulness for the National Catholic Register.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s part of what I\u00a0said:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

God\u2019s blessings are circled with thorns, dressed with responsibility and laden with tenderness.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s blessings are always blessings of love. St. Paul told us that \u201cfaith, hope, love remain, these three;\u00a0but the greatest of these is love.\u201d\u00a0Everything else \u2014 our achievements, our missions for the Church, and our many toys \u2014 will drop away from us and be left behind. Nothing abides except those things done with love, in hope and by faith.<\/p>\n

My Thanksgiving usually passes in a blur of cooking. From early morning until I collapse on the sofa after the meal is finished, I work. Then, after everyone leaves, I go into the kitchen and put the first load in the dishwasher. It usually takes me all day the next day to get everything cleaned and put back in order.<\/p>\n

Does that mean that Thanksgiving is more burden than celebration for me? Not at all. There is something wonderful about cooking a huge feast and gathering my dearest loves around a table to enjoy it. Food and drink, love and being together, are indeed among those blessings circled with the thorns of love, responsibility and tenderness that come from God. I would not trade this day of love for leisure. I am, rather, grateful for the opportunity to be Mom to such wonderful people. They are the warp and woof of my life.<\/p>\n

I was grateful for many things this Thanksgiving, and, life being what it is, I am burdened by a couple of things; my beloved drug addict niece foremost among them.\u00a0 Monday, I go to Dallas to begin the process of determining what the mass in my breast might be. That hangs over me like a cloud, as well.<\/p>\n

The thing I am most thankful for and my greatest burden are one and the same thing. God has trusted me with the care of my 90-year-old mother. This is far from easy. In fact, it\u2019s a bit like Chinese water torture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0http:\/\/www.ncregister.com\/blog\/rhamilton\/gods-blessings-are-circled-with-thorns-laden-with-tenderness\/#ixzz3tvBzA3C6<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote this post about family and thankfulness for the National Catholic Register. Here\u2019s part of what I\u00a0said: God\u2019s blessings are circled with thorns, dressed with responsibility and laden with tenderness. God\u2019s blessings are always blessings of love. St. Paul told us that \u201cfaith, hope, love remain, these three;\u00a0but the greatest of these is love.\u201d\u00a0Everything […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5203,7396,43,44,726,1],"tags":[7838,3787,5196,1201],"class_list":["post-30765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-caregiving-2","category-dementia-2","category-faith","category-family","category-following-christ","category-uncategorized","tag-blessing","tag-care-giver","tag-dementia","tag-family-2"],"yoast_head":"\nGod's Blessings are Circled with Thorns, Dressed with Tenderness.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I wrote this post about family and thankfulness for the National Catholic Register. 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